scott



i W. SCOTT. 4Sheets-Sheet1- Paper-Folding Machine.

No. 231,858. Patented Aug. 81,1880.

i uumnllmmunLlil Fig. 1.

Invenlr:

i 4 Sheets--Sheet 2. W. S C 0 T T.

Paper-Folding Machine.

No. 231,8 Patented Agg. 31,1880.

c' c 2A l N. FEEHS.'PNcro-L|THOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. D. C.

4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

W. SCOTT. Paper-FoldingMaohine.

No. 281,858. Patented Aug.31, 1880.

.4 snee'tsf-sheet 4.

W. SCOTT. Paper-Folding Machine.

No. 231,853. V PafentedAug-31, 11880.

MIJ.

N. PETERSl PMOTOLITHOGRAPHEH. WASWNUTDNy D C.

WALTER SCOTT, OF CHICAGO,ILLINOIS.

PAPER-FOLDING MACHINE.

-SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 231,853, dated August31, 1880. i Application filed December 2, 1879.

To all whom t may concern:

Be vit known that I, WALTER SCOTT, of Chicago, in the county of Cook andState of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement inPaper-Folding Machines, said improvement being part of that described inmy application tiled March 20, 1876, which is fully described in thefollowing specification,

reference being had to the accom pau yin g drawings, in which- Figure lrepresents a side elevation of the folding-machine; Fig. 2, a front-endelevation ofthe same; Fig. 3, a longitudinal section taken on the line xc', Fig. 2; Fig. 4, a plan view of one of the folding-cylinders; Fig. 5,a section ot' one of the folding-cylinders, showing the Vmethod ofattaching the gripers; FiO.

(i, a sectional view of a folding-cylinder, showing another method ofattaching gripers; Fig. 7, an enlarged view, showing'the form of thegripers when they are to be opened by the crea-ser; Fig. 8, a detachedview of eccentric gearing placed upon the shafts of one set of folders,and Fig. 9 a transverse vertical section of the machine.

My invention relates to machines for folding paper, giving successivefolds to sheets of paper as they pass through the machine.

The invention consists in the combination of a vibrating griper with arotating creaser and folding-cylinder, also, in the combination of asecond series ot' rotating creasers and gripers arranged at rightangles, or nearly so, to other folding mechanism, and also in a grip.-iug device for seizing the sheet at its rear end as it is passingthrough the machine, and thereby stopping it to make successive folds,and also in various improvements in details of construction, which willbe hereinafter more fully described.

In the drawings, A represents an inclined feedboard which is mountedupon a frame ot' any suitable construction to receive and support thefolding mechanism. Just in front of the feedboard is placed a cylinder,B, at one end of which is a driving-pulley, a, a small pinion, a', and alarger one, c2. The cylinder B is composed of seve-ral sections, I), allplaced upon the same shaft and rigidly iiXed thereon.

The cylinder is provided with a series of gripers, b', which areattached to a rod, b2, Fig.

5, passing the entire length of the cylinder through the severalsections composing it. To one end of the rod b2, outside of thecylinder, is rigidly attached a short lever, b3, against the outer endof which a spring, b4, operates, which is attached to the outer sectionof the cylinder. This spring, acting against the outernd of the lever,turns thegriper end so as to hold the griper back against the forwardface of slots in the cylinder-sections within which they are placed.

The gripers may be attached to two or more or all of the sectionscomposing the cylinder at pleasure, and those sections not so providedhave groovesin line with the bite of the gripers. b The forward edge ofthe gripers is slightly beveled, as shown in Fig. 7 of the drawings, andwhen placed in position upon the folding cylinder the rear edges areraised slightly above the periphery of the latter. The cylinder is alsoprovided with a longitudinal groove upon its periphery, directlyopposite the gripers, to accommodate the idle revolution of the creaser.

A ercaser, C, is attached to arms c, which are placed upon a shaft, C',mounted in bearings above anda little in front of the cylinder B, andupon one end of which is a gear-wheel, c', which meshes with thegear-wheel a2.

A vibrating frame, D, is att-ached to a rock-shaft, D', at the lowerpart of the frame. Motion is communicated to this rock-shaft by means ofa connecting-rod, d, attached at one end to an arm, d', on therock-shaft, and at the other end to a crank upon a shaft, E, whichcarries upon its other end a gear-wheel, c, meshing with the pinion a.

4At the upper end of the vibrating frame gripers are attached; but` asthere is nothing peculiar in the construction of either the gripers orthe frame, further description is unnecessary.

Bent rods F are attached to a cross-bar ot 4the frame in front of thecylinder B, which support the sheet when it is drawn out by thevibrating griper-t'rame.

-A second folding-roller, G, is placed at the rear of and below thecylinder B, and is adjustable, so that it may be brought into contactwith the cylinder B. At one end is a pinion, g, which meshes with thegear-wheel c2 on the shaft of cylinder B. The roller G is IOO alsoprovided with a series of grooves, g', in wnich conveying-tapes H runaround the rollers over guide-pulleys h, mounted upon a shaft, h', andaround pulleys lt2 at the rear end of the machine.

-A little above the plane of the tape-conveyer is arranged a series ofguide-rods, I, the forward ends of which project beyond theirsupporting-frame I' I', and enter grooves or spaces inthe cylinder B.Just below the plane of the tape-conveyer is placed a stiff rod orroller, l2, in front of the shaft L.

Fingers 'Z are attached to the front bar of the frame I', and a litt-lebelow them is arranged another series'of fingers attached to arock-shaft, K, to which is also attached an arm, 7c, bearing ananti-friction roller on its outer end, which is held in contact with acam by a spring on the shaft K, so that whenever the roller enters adepression in the cam the fingers Z' are brought into contact with eachother.

Below the tape conveyers is a shaft, L, arranged at right angles, ornearly so, to the folding-rollers and creaser heretofore described. Uponthis shaft is mounted a gro'oved bar, L', the front face of' which isrecessed to receive the. outer ends of gripers Z, which are fixed on thefront side of the grooved bar upon a rod, Z', and held in position by aspiral spring surrounding the rod. The outer end of the rod Z' hasacrank-arm uponit, which comesin contact with cams Z2 and Z3 as theshaft is rotated, by which the griper-rod is turned slightly and thegripers opened to receive and release the paper at the proper intervals.

Rings or disks L3 are placed on the shaft L, which rings or disks serveto support and guide the sheets, and are cut away on each side of thecreaser L2, as shown in Fig. 9 of the drawings.

A gear-wheel, Z4, is mounted upon the shaft L just at the end of thefolding-bar, and at the end of the shaft is an eccentric gear, Z5, whichmeshes with a similar gear-wheel, m, upon the end of a shaft, M, locatedabove the shaft L. A creaser, M', is attached to the shaft M, whichoperates in connection with the grooved bar on the shaft L.

Upon a shaft, N, arranged parallel to the shaft L, is placed afolding-cylinder, N', which is similar in construction to the cylinderB, already described, except that the gripers a, instead of beingfastened to a single rod by which they are moved, are pivoted separatelyand independently to the sections of the cylinder in which they areplaced, or are placed loosely on a single rod ruiming through thecylinder, and are held in position by means of separate springs behindeach gripcr.

A beveled-gear wheel, a', is attached to the forward end of the shaft N,which meshes with a 'corresponding gear-wheel, e', upon the shaft E, andat the rear end of the shaft N a gear-wheel, a2, is attached thereto,which meshes with the gear-wheel Z4 on the shaft L. A creaser, L2, ismounted upon the shaft L,

which operates in connection with the cylinder N in the same way as thecreaser G with cylinder B. A roller, O, is placed just below and alittle at one side of the cylinder N', with which it is held in contactand operates in the same manner as the roller G. It is provided with apinion, o, at one end, which meshes with the wheel a2 on the shaft N.The shaft N also carries a cam, N2, against which the crank 7c presses,the cam being of such form as to give the proper motion at suitableintervals to the fingers Z t".

Immediately below the shaft N is located a small shaft, P, to one end ofwhich a piniomp, is attached, whichy meshes with the gear-wheel a2, andto the other end of which a beveled pinion, p', is attached, whichmeshes with a corresponding beveled gear,r, on the upper end of aroller, R. A pinion, r', is attached to the lower end of the roller It,which meshes with a corresponding pinion, r2, on a roller, R',corresponding to the roller R. This last pair of rollers is arranged inan inclined position and at right angles, or nearly so, to the rollersN' and O. Guide-rods r3 are placed on each side of the rollers R R', anda second series, r4, is arranged just above them, for the purpose ofreceiving the sheets between them as they come from the folding-rollersimmediately above them.

A rock-shaft, S, is arranged in line with the rollers R It', and at somedistance forward of them, so as not to obstruct the sheets as they comefrom the rollers N' O. An arm, s, is at- IOO tached to the lower end ofthe shaft S, to the a outer' end of which is fastened an ordinaryvibrating creaser, S'.

A coiled spring, s', around the shaft S, operates to force the creaserS' down between the rollers whenever it is permitted to act, and belowthe vibratin g arm a spring, s2, is placed on the bar i5, which acts asa cushion to the vibrating arm s, which strikes against it as itdescends.

The rock-shaft S is operated by means of a connecting-rod, s3, attachedto an arm thereon, and the lower end of a vibrating'lever, T, pivoted tothe frame at t, and carrying upon its upper end a roller, t', againstwhich a cam, E' on the shaft E operates, the cam being so formed as topermit the creaser S to be thrown down quickly by the spring on therock-shaft at proper intervals, on the sheet over the rollers R R'.

A trough, U, is placed below the rollers R R', to receive the foldedpapers, within which a packer, V, reciprocates for the purpose bofpushing the papers along` out of the way as they are discharged. Catchesor stops a are attached to the lower side of the receivingtrough,whichhold the lower edges of the folded papers from returning las thepackerVis withdrawn. A swinging catch or stop, w, is loosely attached toa pin, W, on the frame ofthe machine, and operates upon the upper edgesof the folded papers in a well-known way, to prevent their return whenthe packeris withdrawn.

IIO

IZO

. The packer V is recessed on itslupper and lower edges, to permit ofits passing the catches u and w without interruption, and it also has'anti-friction rollers upon its lower edge. Al

rod,o, connects the packer to one arm of a bell-crank lever, V', whichis mounted loosely `upon a pin attached` to the main frame, To the otherarm of the lever V' the lower end of an eccentric-rod, c', is attached,which is operated by an eccentric, E2, on the shaft E, and thiscommunicates a reciprocating motion to the packer V.

` The rotating creasers are attached to their shafts or gear-wheels insuch way that they can be accuratelyadjusted to enter the grooves in thefolding-cylinders, and the clevises, which it is necessary to move toadapt the machine to sheets of different sizes, are adjustablyattachedto their supports.

The operation is as follows: A bank ot'sheets is placed upon thefeed-board A, and as motion is communicated to the mechanism throughoutthe machine from the pulley a, the vibrating griper-frame passes upbetween the cylinder B and creaser C, seizes the'lower edge of a sheetas it is fed down, and draws it forward between the cylinder andcreascr, the cylinder and creaser being so geared that the formerperforms three revolutions while the latter performs two, thuspermitting the vibrating gri perframe to pass between them, seize asheet, and draw it forward without interruption. The movements of themechanism are so timed that when the sheet is drawn out about half itslength the crcaser comes down upon it and bends it into the groove inthe cylinder B, at the same time opening the gripers so that it may bereceived. The beveled edges of the gripers facilitate this action of thecreaser. As the cylinder revolves, the creaser soon leaves the slot7 butthe paper is held therein bythe gri pers, and is carried around andfolded by passing' between the rollers B and G. As it leaves theserollers it passes on to the conveying-.tapes H, by which it is carriedto the rear between the folding-bar L' and creaser M, and heilig stoppedatthe proper time by the lingers i t" catching the rear end a moment iust before the wheel reaches the rear stop-bar,

I', when the folded sheet is bent into thel groove in the griper-bar bythe creaser M', and the sheet is drawn over the rod 12, thereby makinganother fold, and carried down by the bar in front of thefolding-cylinder ,l\l',justv as the creaser L2 on the shaft L is broughtround opposite the groove in the cylinder N', by which it is carriedaround between the cylinder and the roller O, another fold is made, andthe sheet is discharged between the guide-rods ri' r4 infront of therollers R lt', between which it is forced by the creaser S', anotherfold .is made, and the folded sheet is discharged into the trough U infront of the packer V, which reciprocatcs to move each sheet forwardjust after it is discharged beyond the catches u w.`

The gripers on the .cylinders B and N are opened to release the sheetsat the proper moment by their elevated rea-r edges coming into contactwith the rollers beneath them, which forces them back; but the griperson the folder L' are both opened and closed bythe crankarm on the shaftto which they are attached striking against cam -stops suitably located.The gripers on the vibrating frame in front are opened and closed bycam-stops, in the usual way.

The eccentric gears l5 m are so arranged as to retard the motion of thecreaser M while it is in contact with thefolding-har L', so that thecreaser will rest against the back edge of the groove as it is withdrawnto enable the gripers to seize the paper more readily.

I do not here claim the following' combinations, which constitutc thesubject-matter of claims in an application heretofore tiled by me andnow pending, viz: first, a rotating cylinder or carrier provided with nipping-jaws and a rotating folding-blade, in combination with foldingmechanism for producing the preceding fold in the paper, the rotatingnipping-jaws and rotating folding-blade heilig arranged at right anglesto the mechanism for producing the preceding fold; second, thecombination, with rotary mechanism for produci n g a prima-ry fold, of arotating folding-blade, a cylinder or carrier provided withnipping-,jaws co--operating with said folding-blade to produce a fold inthe sheet, said cylinder orcarrier being also provided with afolding-blade (zo-operating with sheet-seizing devices to produce.another and parallel fold in the sheet, said mechanism for producingthe primary fold being arranged at right angles to said rotatingfolding-blade, cylinder, or carrier, having nippingjaws andfolding-brade and the eo-operating sheet-seizing devices; third, thecombination ofthe rotating folding-blade and a rotating cylinderprovided with a set of nipping-jaws and sheetguiding devices; fourth,the combination of a cyli nderor carrier, provided with nipping-jaws, anindependent rotating folding-blade, and feeding mechanism, whereby thesheets may be fed in between the ends of the folding-blade and cylinderand in a direction parallel to their shafts.; 'lifth, the combination ofa rotating IOO IIO

folding-blade, a cylinder provided with nipy ping-jaws, and a rollerwith mechanism for producing the preeedingtold in the paper, thefolding-blade and cylinder' with nipping-jaws being arranged at rightangles to t-he mechanism for making the preceding fold and caused torotate; sixth, in combination with the cylinder or carrier provided withnipping-jaws, a rotating folding-blade carried by a shaft and turningout of contact with the cylinder with which said blade co-operates infolding the sheet, in order that a sheet of paper may have an open spaceto enter past the blade shaft or edge of the folding-blade and passlongitudin ally between itand the nipping-jaws cylinder at any timeduring the rotating movement of the folding-blade when the blade is notin contact with the cylinder.

I am also aware that three folding-rolls have l been heretofore used,the first of which is provided with a folding-blade, the second with afolding-blade and griper, and the third with avgriper, for the purposeof making two parallel folds in the same sheet, and therefore I do notclaim, broadly, the combination of these specified devices.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of a rotating creaser, C, cylinder B, provided withgripers, and vibrating griping frame D, substantially as described.

2.. The gripers u, pivoted to the cylinder and constructed with theirfront edges beveled, as described, in combination with independentholding-springs, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination of the cylinder N', gripers n, pivoted directly andindependently to the cylinders, and separate holding-springs,substantially as described.

4. The continuously-rotating grooved folding bar or cylinder providedwith gripers, in combination with the rotating creaser-blade geared tothe cylinder, whereby a continuous and positive rotation is given tosaid blade and folding mechanism, substantially as described, forproducing the preceding fold in the paper,`the rotating foldin g-bar andcreaser being arranged at right angles to said mechanism for producingthe preceding fold, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. The combination, substantially as described, of the creaser-blade M',grooved foldl ing bar or cylinder L', provided with suitable gripers,creaser L2, griper-cylinder N', and mechanism for producing thepreceding fold in the paper, the creasers, folding-bar, andgriper-cylinder being arranged at right angles to the mechanism formakin g the precedin gfold and caused to rotate, as specified.

6. The inclined rollers R R', arranged at right angles to the cylinderN' and bar L', and having their axes in the same inclined plane, incombination with the packing-trough vU and packer V, arranged centrallyunderneath the opening between lthe rollers, so that the folded sheetswill fall directly from the rollers into the packing-trough,substantially as set forth.

7. The combination of the cylinder and creaser B and G, the rotatinggrooved bar and creaser L and M', arranged at right angles to theformer, and suitable conveying-tapes H, substantially as described.

8. The combination of the rotating creaser M', grooved bar L', and rodI2, substantially vas and for the purpose set forth.

9. The combination of the rotating creaser M', the rotating groovedfolding bar or cylinder L', and mechanism, substantially as described,whereby the creaser and bar are speeded so that the edge ofthe formervmoves more slowly than the surface of the groove in which it worksWhile they are in contact, substantially as'and for the purpose setforth.

10. The combination ofthe shafts L and M, grooved folding-bar L',creaser M', and eccentric gear-wheels l5 m, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

11. The combination of a vibrating arm, s,

carriin the creaser S' and a eushionin spring, s2, substantially asdescribed.

12. The combination of the folding bar or cylinder L', the independentrevolving creasingblade M', both constructed substantially as described,and feeding mechanism whereby the sheets may be fed in between the endsof the creaser and cylinder, and in a direction parallel to theirshafts, as and for the purpose set forth.

13. The combination of the folding-cylinder L', independent revolvingcreasing-blade M', and conveying-tapes H, running parallel to the shaftsof the ,cylinder and creaser, substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

14. The combination of the griper-cylinder B, having two or morelongitudinal grooves, and the revolving creasing-blade C, arranged andgeared substantially as described, so that the former performs a greaternumber of revolutions than the latter and the creaser enters the gripersonly when the sheet is in position to make a fold.

WALTER SCOTT.

Witnesses JN0. G. MAOGREGOR, L. L. COBURN.

